Major League vs. Minor League contract

[Jose Cardenal]

Could someone explain to me the pros and cons of signing a player to a Major League contract vs. a Minor League one?

 

Also what about the timming of the signing i.e if it occurs in September it would be for 2004 right?

 

Obviously I have Rickie Weeks in mind.

[Member]

I don't know the rules for sure, but my guess is that he would be added to the 40 and 25 man rosters if he signed a major league contract.

 

If the above is true, the biggest drawback would be his addition to the 40 man roster, giving him, in effect, three years to make it.

 

How does "optioning" work?

Generally, after three (3) professional seasons, a player must be protected on a club?s 40-man roster or he becomes eligible for the Rule 5 draft (see below). Once a player is added to a club?s 40-man roster, the club then has three (3) available option years during which they can place him on ?optional assignment? to a minor league club. A player can be sent up and down as many times as the club so chooses within those three seasons. If a player is not sent to the minors during a year, an option is NOT used.

 

Once a player is ?out of options?, he must clear ?waivers? in order to be sent down again.

 

From Brewerfan.net FAQ

 

I guess I, too, am curious about any other ramifications.

[Al the Thinking Man]

There are no positives to signing a major league contract, not for the club or the player. Ask Willy Mo Pena.

 

The negatives are the player wastes a spot on the 40 man (not the 25), and wastes an option every year until he's out. Then, he sits on the bench like Pena, as he's a AA player who need sto play and learn, but can't be sent down because the team will lose him.

 

As I said, I'd lose Weeks and take a compensation pick next season before I'd offer a major league deal. They are wrong and simply a poor way of doing business.

[Never Outhustled]

I agree that major league deals are bad for everyone, but they are worse in some cases than others. Pena was a raw 17 year old when he was given a major league deal. Weeks is much farther along in his development than Pena was, and will be ready for the Majors before he is out of options. The Crew wouldn't land anything close to Weeks at the end of round 1, where the compensation pick would be. Having to carry Weeks on the 40 man roster isn't ideal, but if Enrique Cruz is worth it, than a potential superstar like Weeks if definately worth it.

[SoCalBrewfan]

Actually, if you look a couple topics down, you'll see a thread I posted containing a link that says that Weeks would get four option years...it's a little-used clause that says that a player gets a fourth option year if he has less than five years of pro experience...which basically only happens if a player signs a major league deal just after the draft.

 

You will also see a post by me somewhere where I list all the guys who signed major league deals after the draft. For the college guys, it has not been an issue...the only guys that haven't worked out have been issues of talent, not contract: Chad Hutchinson and Eric Munson. The Reds with Dane Sardinha may yet be hurt by this issue...but then he may never hit period. I would think long and hard about signing a HS draftee to a major league deal, but college players, especially at the top of the draft, have been a different story.

 

thread with all major league contracts

 

Bottom line is, it's not as bad as some suggest...and to give up on Weeks and take a comp pick in the 30s for this issue would just be silly. If Weeks can't stick in the bigs in his fifth year, he probably never will.

 

EDIT: Clarity. Maybe.